The Bird Education Network (BEN) was created following
the February 2007 National Gathering, hosted by CEE. BEN is a
CEE initiative that seeks to connect and support a network of
bird education professionals.
BEN has initially
identified five priority bird conservation problems facing us
today. These five priority bird conservation problems are:
habitat loss, modern industrial life, insufficient public
awareness, insufficient funding, and inter-American
concerns. Understanding and explaining each of these
five problems and recognizing that they are both biological
and non-biological are essential to crafting an effective
modern bird education movement.
A BEN Committee
has been established to provide advice and guidance for this
important initiative, to advance "bird conservation through
education." Ultimately, we at BEN are connecting bird
educators at all levels to be more
effective.
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Jekyll
Island Calling...
The Bird Education
Network is
gearing up for a big
splash at its
upcoming
National Gathering.
Preparation is
in full swing for
what promises to
be an
outstanding event complete
with
field sessions, engaging
panel
discussions, nationally
recognized speakers, culinary delights and much
more.
Held at the Jekyll
Island Club Hotel, the island's only four star resort
and historic landmark, this event provides a
fantastic opportunity for educators and bird
professionals to network and exchange ideas about
best practices for educating the public about birds
conservation.
There's still time to
register. To download a copy of our
online registration packet CLICK HERE.
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 Junior Duck Stamp: Major Education
Opportunity
As many readers of the BEN
Bulletin know, the Federal Junior Duck Stamp
Conservation and Design Program (JDS) is a creative
curriculum-based arts and science program that helps
educate students about wetland conservation. The
program incorporates scientific and wildlife management
principles into a visual arts curriculum with
participants completing a Junior Duck Stamp design as
their visual "term papers." Today, all 52 states and
territories are involved in the program. Approximately
30,000 children participated last year.
Public
schools, home-schooled children, non-traditional
schools, and art schools participate in the appropriate
State Junior Duck Stamp Program Contest. Each state's
first place winning design is automatically entered into
the National Junior Duck Stamp Contest to select the
design for the new Junior Duck Stamp. (The 2009
contest will be held in Washington, DC at the National
Postal Museum on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 which is also
Earth Day.)
The Junior Duck Stamp is sold through
U.S. Postal Service, Amplex Corporation, and many
National Wildlife Refuges.
All the proceeds from
the sale of Junior Duck Stamps are used to support the
National Junior Duck Stamp Program and help educate K-12
grade students about the importance of habitats and
wildlife conservation. The top three national Junior
Duck Stamp winners also receive scholarship money.
There's still time to enter the contest in your
state or introduce the program to your local schools.
All Junior Duck Stamp Program State contests will be
held between mid-March and early April, 2009. Most state
deadlines are March 15, 2009.
All
information about the contest and materials are
available for download at http://www.fws.gov/juniorduck/ArtContest.htm. You can find more information, including
contact information for your state coordinator at
http://www.fws.gov/juniorduck/ArtContest.htm#statecoordinator.
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 BEN Wants Your Bird
Education Success Story
The Bird Education Network has been
compiling Bird Education to
Conservation Success Stories that highlight YOUR
hard work. Our objective is to document the collective
impact that our individual bird education efforts have
made on the bird conservation movement.
It's quite motivating to hear about
teachers recruiting entire families to bird,
villages in South America celebrating our shared
warblers, and improving the number of seabirds on the
West Coast. We are all making a difference!
Please share your impact with the
Bird Education Network by considering following
questions.
- How have participants
in your program/activities changed their behavior to
help birds?
- Did they make changes
around their home or yard for the birds?
- Did they donate to bird
conservation projects?
- Did they volunteer
their time for conservation projects?
- Did they write to local
legislators about a conservation issue?
- Has legislation been
passed in your state/area?
Inspiring stories have
already been received by the BEN Committee but there's
still time to send yours. You can submit your success
story online at: www.fledgingbirders.org/BENform.html. |
 Wetlands
Month
Environmental Concern
has
kicked off Part 1 of its 5th
annual Write On! Wetlands
Challenge. This competition,
designed to celebrate American
Wetlands Month in May, challenges
students to create a book written and illustrated
by kids for kids! Part 1, for grades 6-8, is the
Writers Challenge. Students write
and submit a children's story based on a wetlands
theme. And there's something suspicious in the
swamp for this year's theme....all the entries must
be in the form of a mystery story. The winning
entry will be illustrated in Part 2, and published
by Environmental Concern as a children's
book. For more information, tips
for writers, and full contest guidelines please
visit http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=cwqalvcab.0.0.cvohqmcab.0&ts=S0383&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wetland.org%2Feducation_contest.htm&id=preview Sharpen your pencils and join
Environmental Concern for "The Case of the Missing
Wetlands." A bird mystery might work just
perfectly! | | |
For More Information visit:
